Think the Dave Mathews band meets early Coldplay meets Goo Goo Dolls meets Foo Fighters meets Pearl Jam in a tall glass with a tiny blue umbrella and a lemon twist. Now shake it, sniff it, swirl it in your mouth and down that bad boy. It’ll be hard to remember things after, but once you pass out from the sheer genius and wake up the next morning with feeling of hysteria and two tiny coloured dots right in the front of your eyes, know that you’ve been Junkyard Grooved.

Their music fills deep inside you, leaving you elated and craving for more. It’s no wonder that they’re one of the most successful bands in the country. Gunning down the myth that you cannot make it in this field playing international music, Junkyard Groove has proved that all that really matters in the end is that you make some darn good music and then leave it to the universe to spread it around.

Founded in 2005, they’ve been there, done that and moved on to greener (hallo monies!) pastures. Their first album 11:11 itself managed to bag multiple swanky awards. Like that overly popular girl who always becomes the prom queen at the end of every chick flick, Junkyard Groove too have been bagging prizes at almost every single college fest they’ve graced with their presence. Being of a very generic genre, people of different tastes and sensibilities succumb to the barrel of heady intoxication that is their music.

An eccentric bunch, Junkyard Groove is known a multitude of things apart from their music. To name a few,

a) For the highly social butterfly like antics of one Ameeth Thomas. The Junkyard Groove Facebook and Twitter page is filled with his “I’m so high/drunk/happy/etc” snapshots and updates. Because the world just HAS to know about that, otherwise, how would everyone know what fun Mr. Thomas has been having?!

b) The torrid line-up change, when Sidharth, Jerry and John, like teenagers in a relationship, they broke up with Ameeth through facebook and twitter. What’s that? Backbone? Ah well. More details and in depth analysis here.

c) In happier news, being signed by an international label and opening for some of the biggest bands in the world like Iron Maiden, Incubus, Prodigy, Robert Plant and more.

The Junkyard Groove fan community, like Van Halen’s Roth and Hager business, has split into two – Old line up and new line up. But let’s try not to nail the writer to a cross and set fire for the must listen list. It may not have been divided equally, but it has been divided honestly. Here goes:-

It’s OK

An obvious recommendation, It’s Ok has weaselled its way into the play list of every single English radio station in India. Its fast, it’s peppy, it’s guitar heavy and it talks about a boy and a girl. You cannot go wrong with this kind of a formula. Especially when you have SiddharthSrinivasan’sdancy riffs and Ameeth Thomas’s rough and sexy (giggle*) all meshed into one genius of a song.

Imagine:

When Ameeth screams Imagine, that’s exactly what you do. You imagine the tear in your eye, to the sound of the morning sigh. You imagine that it is you. And you cannot sleep or breath.

Say Goodbye:

A simple song about how hard it is to say goodbye. It doesn’t have ground breaking lyrics or brilliant music, but it still touches you in places you’ve never been touched before. And not in a dirty way, perverts.

Beautiful Crime:

The old line ups can diss this song all they want, but the fact remains that it’s a pretty kickass single. The sound is riper than their previous works and it’s leaves you with the promise of a more mature sound to develop in near future.

Folk You:

One of the best Junkyard Groove pieces, Folk you is nice and trippy. It’s like somebody pointed a bony finger at Ameeth and said, play that funky music white boy. And he did just that.

Even after all the major up and downs and the weird combing of beards, there’s absolutely no doubt that they’re here to stay and have the Junkyard groove flag fluttering proudly for years to come. Maybe with one of Ameeth’s "I’m so stoned" picture on it.